Milenko Pilic (CPO & CMO) | Lukas Haitzmann (CEO)

Greena World empowers hotels to assess, improve, and communicate their environmental and social impact. Using our technology, hospitality businesses can lower expenses, access a new market of 100+ million eco-conscious travelers, and comply with net-zero regulations. While our current focus is on hotels and restaurants, we aspire to transform the entire travel sector, including airlines, destinations, and activities.

1.   Describe the problem/the industry that you are trying to mediate (and precise the UN SDG-s you are solving).

We're addressing a big gap in the hospitality industry. On one side, 33% of travelers, supported by a big Hilton study, actively check a hotel's sustainability practices before making a booking.  But, there's a significant obstacle: there's a sea of confusing badges with no clarity on what stands behind those badges, making it hard to understand who is genuinely sustainable and who isn’t. On the other side, we have hotels and restaurants that genuinely want to be more sustainable, not only to attract these eco-conscious travelers but also to comply with new regulations. The problem? The current solutions that could assist them are too costly, incredibly complex, and non-digital, presenting  confusing badges that don’t really offer a clear return on investment.

Greena World is here to make it straightforward and affordable for hotels to enhance and communicate their sustainability in a way that's authentic and clear while enabling travelers to compare the real impact of different hotels with ease and confidence.

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): the Greena Index, scoring from 0-100, reflects the level of positive impact each hotel or restaurant has on our planet and its inhabitants. Incorporating three pillars — environmental, social, and guest well-being — with dozens of criteria, it impacts numerous SDGs . Here are the SDGs most significantly influenced:

• 1. No Poverty: Greena World encourages tourism practices that economically uplift local communities, fostering a ripple effect of prosperity.

• 6. Clean Water and Sanitation: We prioritize ensuring sustainable water usage and waste management in hotels and restaurants, safeguarding vital resources for all.

• 8. Decent Work and Economic Growth: Our focus extends to promoting sustainable tourism that amplifies local economies and ensures fair, equitable employment within the hospitality sector.

• 9. Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure: We use innovative technology to make all hospitality businesses more sustainable.

• 12. Responsible Consumption and Production: We help the hospitality industry to use resources wisely and create less waste.

• 13. Climate Action: A crucial goal, as we strive to mitigate the climate impact of travel and tourism, preserving our planet for generations to come.

2.   How did the idea to create the company come to mind? How did your team come to be?

The initial inspiration was sparked in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Our CEO and Founder, Lukas, rowed 3,000 miles alone from Europe to America. In a place so far from land, where the nearest humans were astronauts on the International Space Station, he was confronted by a troubling sight: vast amounts of household waste floating on the ocean’s surface. This alarming sight triggered a vital question: How does our collective love for travel impact our planet?

Upon exploring this, we identified a desire within the travel industry to enhance sustainability. However, the existing solutions were often too expensive for most hospitality businesses and too academic for many travelers to understand. Spotting a significant opportunity, we recognized the enormous potential of technology to make sustainability both affordable and accessible to everyone - a mission that united our team. 

3.   Why did you choose to participate in the Paris Techstars accelerator program? What are you looking forward to the most?

Even though we have some solid experience from our previous companies, we recognize that we're far from knowing everything. Techstars opens the doors to a huge network of mentors and founders, which we have at our fingertips, ready to tap into whenever we need advice or a sprinkle of wisdom on our journey. Furthermore, Techstars Paris arguably stands out as the world’s premier sustainability-focused accelerator program. Its mission—pairing positive impact with successful business building—deeply resonates with us and aligns perfectly with our own aspirations.

4.   What are you the most proud of in your initial journey with your company?

We are undoubtedly most proud of all the team members, advisors, investors and early customer adopters who have supported us from the very first day of our company. Their belief in us provided the initial motivation to work even harder to achieve a measurable positive impact on our planet, local communities, and hospitality businesses.

5.   How do you plan to measure the positive impact of your company in the next 5 years?

 Our plan to measure Greena World's positive impact over the next 5 years focuses on specific, accurately measurable criteria from the Greena Index, even though it consists of dozens of aspects. One of those measurable impacts will be carbon emissions saved. By having businesses implement 30% of our recommendations, we aim to reduce CO2 emissions by 3.27M metric tons over 5 years — equivalent to planting over 37 million trees each year. Also, it's vital that our customers see clear business benefits. Early data shows that using Greena World could save our customers between $4.7K and $38.5K each year, depending on the hotel size and changes made, while also boosting booking revenue by 7-18%.

For the latest news on our applications, please visit our page.

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